I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for resource and interference management in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there has been an effort toward implementation of efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance. For example, in recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded great voice quality, reliable service, and low prices.
In addition to mobile telephone networks currently in place, a new class of small base stations has emerged, which can be installed in the home of a user and provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existing broadband Internet connections. Such personal miniature base stations are generally known as access point base stations, or, alternatively, Home Node B (HNB) or Femto cells. Typically, such miniature base stations are connected to the Internet and the network of a mobile operator via a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) router, cable modem, or the like.
Wireless communication systems can be configured to include a series of wireless access points, which can provide coverage for respective locations within the system. Such a network structure is generally referred to as a cellular network structure, and access points and/or the locations they respectively serve in the network are generally referred to as cells.
In conventional wireless network implementations, a set of base stations are utilized to provide network coverage for respective geographic areas corresponding to the base stations. Further, power levels of respective base stations in a wireless network can differ from base station to base station, based on factors such as the relative sizes of areas covered by the base stations and/or other such factors. For example, macro base stations can be configured to cover a large area and utilize a large power class, while pico base stations and/or femto base stations can be configured to cover a smaller area and utilize lower power.
Accordingly, in a scenario in which a mobile terminal is located between two base stations of varying power levels, the mobile terminal can select a base station from the neighboring base stations to which to connect based on a variety of factors. However, in the case that the mobile terminal establishes communication with a base station having a relatively low power level, the terminal may become jammed by one or more neighboring base stations with higher power. A similar scenario can occur on the uplink, wherein a mobile terminal communicating at a relatively high level of power to a base station that is far away can cause jamming to the uplink communication of one or more base stations that are closer to the mobile terminal.
Further, in dominant interference conditions such as those described above, a regular access request transmitted by a mobile terminal to a desired serving base station can in some cases fail to be received by the base station due to uplink interference. Additionally, if the base station recognizes the regular access request and responds to it, the terminal may in some cases be unable to receive the response due to downlink interference. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement improved initial access and/or interference management techniques for wireless networks that mitigate at least the above shortcomings with respect to dominant interference conditions.